The Role of Agroecology Clubs in Advancing Uganda’s Competency-Based Curriculum: A Strategic Response to Transform Education and Food Systems.

As global education systems adopt Competency-Based Curricula (CBC) to meet 21st-century demands, Uganda has followed suit, rolling out CBC at lower secondary levels since 2020. This Education reform targets key national challenges—youth unemployment, skills mismatch, food insecurity, and environmental degradation—by emphasizing practical life skills, critical thinking, digital literacy, and problem-solving.

The urgency is clear: Sub-Saharan Africa's youth unemployment stands at 12.7% (2024), with Uganda's youth facing high informal employment and limited job market alignment. Despite agriculture employing over 70% of Uganda’s workforce, the sector remains informal and unattractive to youth due to weak innovation and market linkages. Compounding this, Uganda’s secondary school Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) is below 25% (UNESCO, 2023), far behind the OECD average of 90%, revealing inequities in access to relevant, skill-based education.

In response, Agroecology Clubs, pioneered by ESAFF Uganda in primary and secondary schools, provide a transformative platform for experiential learning and grassroots innovation. Far more than co-curricular activities, these clubs serve as living labs where learners (of all ages and school levels) they play a crucial role in promoting critical thinking, adoption, transfer of knowledge that is not only applicable in the school environment but is useful into the learner’s life time. The clubs perform hands-on projects such as composting, seed saving, water harvesting, organic farming, and bio-pesticide production. Learners directly interact with the 13 internationally recognized agroecology principles (FAO, 2018), including biodiversity enhancement, nutrient recycling, and minimal external input use—fostering ecological literacy and systems thinking. 

“The Agroecology Clubs are helping a lot in giving students opportunity to learn life skills that helps them to survive even after school. This is exactly what the new curriculum is looking at. I am happy that this initiative is being rolled out in learning institutions”. Muwanga James Kidonde, Municipal Inspector of Schools, Mityana Municipality.

Integrated within CBC, the Agroecology Clubs have the potential to fully enhance the quality of education through assessable learning outcomes in Agriculture, Biology, and Environmental Education per UNEB guidelines. They equip learners with technical, entrepreneurial, and ecological competencies aligned with CBC’s objective of preparing students for life and work. The clubs nurture critical thinking and problem-solving while promoting agripreneurship, supporting national goals under NDP IV and Vision 2040. By utilizing indigenous knowledge and local materials, the clubs ensure curriculum relevance and affordability. In addition to enhancing availability and accessibility of healthy foods, they also contribute to environmental literacy, hence contributing to SDGs 2 (Zero Hunger) and 13 (Climate Action).  

The clubs directly build school-community cohesion through partnerships with Community Agroecology Schools championed by ESAFF Uganda and local farming communities while closing gaps in the competitive money Economy through youth Empowerment.

“Last year, I established my agroecology garden, harvested well, and sold my produce to pay my school fees. Agroecology has taught me self-reliance.”– Arnold Mirimo, S.4 student, St. Joseph Naama Modern SS, Mityana

Agroecology-based school programs are producing measurable outcomes worldwide. In Brazil, the Educação do Campo initiative has cut rural dropout rates by over 35% and reduced rural-urban migration. In Kenya, integration of agroecology in schools like Muthurwa Secondary through Biovision Africa Trust has boosted student participation in agriculture-related CBC activities by 40%. India’s Ministry of Environment supports over 90,000 Eco-Clubs, leading to a 25% increase in biodiversity and organic farming awareness. Globally, UNESCO’s Associated Schools Network (ASPnet) reports that over 30% of its member schools have adopted sustainability-aligned teaching through Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). These models affirm the transformative power of agroecology-based experiential learning in advancing curriculum relevance and learner engagement.

Failure to integrate Agroecology Clubs into CBC presents serious risks. Economically, with 13% youth unemployment and over 70% of the population reliant on agriculture, excluding agroecology limits access to practical, job-relevant skills—deepening joblessness and rural poverty. Environmentally, with 80% of farming households affected by climate shocks, lack of climate-resilient education undermines national preparedness and food security. Socially, CBC risks becoming abstract and disconnected in rural contexts, potentially resulting in up to 30% lower knowledge retention and reduced learner engagement. This exclusion threatens to widen the rural-urban divide and delay national progress toward the realization of Vision 2040 and the SDG aspirations.

Policy Recommendations

1. Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES) should institutionalize Agroecology Clubs in CBC policy, training resources, and school performance assessments.

2. Government through Ministry of Education and Sports should partner with agroecological actors like ESAFF Uganda, research bodies, private sector, and local governments to enhance club content, provide in-service training and resource starter kits, mentorship as well as market linkages with district-level coordination.

3. Government should embed agroecology in career guidance to link clubs with vocational training, agribusiness incubation, and scholarships, framing agriculture as a dignified, profitable career.

Agroecology Clubs offer a scalable, cost-effective, and context-specific innovation that can transform Uganda’s education system into a more resilient, inclusive, and sustainable model. Grounding learning in ecological realities enhances not only academic outcomes but also national readiness for economic, social, and environmental challenges. With strategic support and national rollout, Uganda has a unique opportunity to lead Africa in championing a CBC model that bridges education and sustainable development. The time to act is now—Agroecology Clubs are not just an educational tool, but a pathway to a greener, more equitable future.